I Dare You to Take it Off
by dead last hero
Summary: Joey dares Yugi and Ryou to remove the millennium items for one night. What adventures will Yami and Bakura endure on their frantic journey home, as Joey deals with an impatient Kaiba back at the Game Shop? [hints of YYY, JouKai, BakuraxRyou]
1. Ch1: Day One

**AN: **Okay, so I admit that I'm heavily influenced by LittleKuriboh's "YuGiOh, the abridged series". But, I also just am highly amused by YuGiOh and all the crack that is infused into my bloodstream by it. Don't be scared by the 11 chapter length, the chapters are rather short. Happy reading, kids.

* * *

"I dare you to take it off," Joey stood over Yugi with his arms crossed.

Yugi briefly glanced over his shoulder as if he expected a ninja to pop out of nowhere. Only Ryou was standing there. "Don't listen to him, Yugi. You don't have to," he assured Yugi, nodding.

Joey towered over both of the half-sized kids. "You too, Ryou. You should take yours off. Betcha can't do it."

"Could so. If I wanted to," Ryou responded, pulling his shirt off over his head. The Millennium Ring clanked against his chest as he got into his pajamas.

"You're both liars. And wimps. Wimpy liars is all." Joey responded, tearing his clothes off and rolling his sleeping bag out on the floor.

Yugi sat cross-legged on his bed, hugging his dark magician plushie to himself.

"Forget Joey, Yugi. He's just bullying you," Yami's voice comforted him.

"That's right! One day your gonna wake up and be stabbed in the chest. Bleeding all over. Do you SHOWER with it on too?" Joey teased Ryou. Ryou nodded and Joey turned on Yugi.

"He's a FOOL." Bakura reminded him. Ryou looked down at the Millennium Ring. "Don't you dare," Bakura threatened. Those dangly pointy parts looked extra stabby for some reason.

"One night! C'mon, Yug'. It ain't like Yami's gonna make it grow legs and walk off," he pointed to the Millennium puzzle dramatically.

"He's kind of right," Yami pointed out. Yugi squirmed. "Are you okay with it?" He looked up at Joey's looming body. Yami assured him that likely, nothing tragic would happen in eight hours.

"Okay, but only if Ryou takes off the Millennium ring, too," Yugi agreed.

Joey watched intently like this was the moment he had been waiting for his whole life. Or like some kind of dangerous fireworks were going to explode from the golden items when they were removed and possibly singe off his eyebrows and-

"Kay. We did it. Happy? Get in your sleeping bag and go to sleep." Yugi demanded.

"You're a bully, Joey," Ryou said, climbing into his sleeping bag.

"Hahahahaha! Of course I ain't! Nothin' even happened," Joey was snoring and twitching in his sleep before he'd hardly finished the sentence.

Yugi snuggled underneath his covers, ignoring the bad feeling settling into the pit of his stomach.


	2. Ch2: Day Two: Yami and Bakura

"Where the bloody hell…?" Bakura asked grumpily. He was promptly knocked flat by a freezing cold wave.

Yami came up out of the water, choking. He stumbled around a little bit before running directly into Bakura. The two tumbled into the sand and got washed over by yet another wave.

"Get off, you fool!" Bakura shouted, shoving at Yami.

Yami shoved back. "You get off! Where do you get off telling me to get off! Stop! Gaw!" They both scrambled out of the water and flopped onto the shore.

After taking a few moments to breathe, Yami pulled his face out of the sand. "Yugi, where are we? What happened?" Yami was answered with silence. "Yugi? Yugi?!" Yami called out, looking around. He spotted Bakura flinging sand next to him.

"You little brat! What is this, the silent treatment? How dare you!" he rolled violently in the sand, throwing fistfuls into the air.

Yami picked up the nearest shell and pegged the raving lunatic in the head. "Calm down! What is your problem?"

"My problems are none of your business!" he paused before pasting a disgusted look all over his face. "Where are your clothes?"

Yami turned bright red and looked down at himself. He immediately forgot his embarrassment. "Never mind my clothes, where is the Millennium Puzzle?" He stood up with a wobble.

"How should I know? Where is my ring? You've stolen it!" Bakura stood up like a raging drunkard. "Return it or I'll beat it out of you, Yugi!"

Yami squared off, ready to defend himself. "I'm not Yugi!"

Bakura made a face at him. He looked down and smirked. "Right. You couldn't possibly be Yugi," he commented.

Yami followed Bakura's line of sight downwards and covered himself, embarrassed.

"Where are we? What in Zorc's name is going on?" Bakura started to finally take note of his surroundings. There were a few beach patrons down the coast.

"I've decided that we are naked on a beach." Yami pointed out. He started poking himself in the chest, then the arm.

"Why are you prodding yourself like a moron?" Bakura demanded.

"I was trying to decide if this was a real body!" Yami defended himself.

"Of course its real! I'm cold as hell! Screw this, I'm going to go mug someone for their clothing. Anything is better than standing around here with you." Bakura began to stalk off down the beach towards a couple of girls that were sunbathing.

"Wait! You can't just rob people!" Yami called after him, running to catch up.

"Of course I can! Robbing people is what I do!" Bakura retorted, approaching the two girls.

"Give me all your belongings before I KILL you!" he demanded. The girl took off her sunglasses and looked up at him.

"What?" she asked.

"Do you not understand KILL?!" he yelled at her. She recoiled fearfully. The other girl glared at him. "Hey, leave her alone!"

Yami stepped in. "What my friend means to say is, could we borrow a couple of towels?"

The girl gave him a quizzical look. She turned to her friend. "I think they're foreign," she whispered. The other girl nodded. "I have no idea what language they're speaking."

"What. Do. You. Want?" the girl asked, like the two men were slow and stupid.

Bakura looked like he was going to tear her throat out. Yami put a hand on his shoulder. "For some reason, they can't understand what we're saying." Yami pointed at the extra towel in the girl's bag. He then pointed to himself.

"Ohhh. You want a towel?" she handed it to him. Bakura fumed. The other girl handed him her towel as well.

The two wrapped themselves up to the point where they were no longer indecently exposing.

"Those females were absolute morons! How could they not understand what I was saying?!"

Yami folded his arms across his chest. "Perhaps it was good that they didn't understand what you said," he muttered.

Bakura glared at him as they made their way off the beach to the boardwalk. A group of teenagers passed by them.

"Am I speaking Japanese?!" Bakura hollered at them. They all adopted funny looks. "What the heck man," one of them said "What kinda language is that? Its like ancient freak or something." the group laughed as they walked off.

Bakura growled like a very angry bear. Yami had an epiphany, thank goodness. "Not ancient freak…ancient Egyptian!"

"Why are we speaking Egyptian?!" Bakura growled at him.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Because we're Egyptians?" he offered.

Bakura kicked a rack of bikes violently and they all toppled like dominos.

An old man came out waving a stick and yelling. Yami and Bakura took off running down the nearest alley.

Yami bent over, gasping for breath. He addressed Bakura leaning against the brick wall of the alleyway.

"What do you propose we do now?" he asked, trying to solve their dilemma in a rational manner. He proceeded to ask Yugi what he should do, only to discover once again that Yugi wasn't there.

Bakura was flexing his muscles and checking out his own body. "This body isn't very strong. The arms are just as skinny as when I am in Ryou's body. Still…I can use this body to do as I wish." Yami could tell what twisted thoughts were dancing around in Bakura's head.

"I'm worried about Yugi," Yami voiced openly. "If I am here, what has happened to him?"

"Who cares? Maybe he died." Bakura responded. Yami approached him suddenly. "How could you say that? What about Ryou?"

Bakura turned his face away from Yami and didn't respond. "You don't know where you are, nor can you communicate with anyone aside from me."

"The only communication I need is this," Bakura held up his fist.

"And what about Ryou?" Yami repeated.

"Never mind. I need to retrieve the Millennium Ring." he glared at Yami. "You're standing too close to me while wearing a towel."

Yami backed away and looked around. He spotted a clothesline hanging above their heads. "Ra forgive me," he muttered, pulling some clothes off the line and throwing them at Bakura. "Put these on before anything else." he instructed.

Bakura scowled at the clothes. "These are WOMEN'S clothes, you idiot!"

Yami pulled the shirt on over his head. He silently thanked Yugi for being so skinny. "What's the matter? We wore skirts all the time in our past lives."

"This skirt is pink!" Bakura yelled, shaking the thing at him. "I've come to realize that regardless of what Ryou thinks, pink is NOT the fashion for males!"

Yami folded his arms across his chest yet again. "You aren't the only victim of you're hosts sense of fashion." he responded. "How many belts can a kid own? Really." he muttered to himself.


	3. Ch3: Day Two: Kaiba and Joey

Joey tore his sleeping bag off violently. He yawned, stretched, and rolled around on the floor of Yugi's bedroom in a rather silly manner. The sun blared in through the window at his face. "Man, why didn't Yugi wake me up? He's usually up so early." Joey sat up and rubbed his face. Ryou and Yugi were both still sound asleep. Maybe Joey was just delusional as to the time of day. He picked up his cell phone and stared at it. Noon.

"Hey Yug, wake up! Whaddaya doin' sleepin' all day!" he said, poking Yugi in the shoulder. He scratched at his stomach and stared at Yugi. "Wake up dude," Joey said, shaking him lightly. Yugi didn't flinch.

Joey rubbed his face and nudged Bakura with his foot. "Yo, Ryou. Get up man. Its seriously noon."

Joey stood in the middle of Yugi's room, staring at the sleeping duo. He rubbed his face some more.

"OKAY PRETTY MUCH NOT AWESOME!" he yelled. No one stirred. He patted Yugi's cheek. "Haha, very funny!" Joey frowned and stalked off to the bathroom. Whatever. If they wanted to be sour at him for the lame millennium item thing then….

Joey rushed back into the room. He looked at the Millennium Puzzle sitting atop the Millennium Ring on Yugi's nightstand. They weren't on fire or making weird buzzing noises or glowing or anything like that. "Nahhhhhh." he told himself, going back into the bathroom.

"Why you guys gotta be so lame like that? You know-" Joey walked back into Yugi's room. Neither boy had moved an inch.

Joey stared before fumbling for his phone. He punched Tristan's speed dial number.

"Yo?" Tristan answered right away.

"What happens when people don't wake up!?" Joey was starting to have a minor panic attack.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Joey? Everything okay?"

"What happens when people go to sleep and don't wake up?" Joey repeated.

Tristan paused. "Didn't you stay the night at Yugi's house?" Tristan asked, a slight waver in his voice.

"Answer the question, Tristan!"

"Usually doesn't that mean the person is dead?" Tristan asked.

"Oh my God!" Joey yelled.

"Oh my God!" Tristan repeated. "Grandpa's dead?! Call 911, Joey!"

"NO!" Joey yelled at him, turning in circles around Yugi's room. "Tristan can you come over?!"

"Joey, I'm at Disneyland right now, I can't exactly come over-"

Joey hung up on him and dialed Tea's number.

"Hello?" came her voice over the line.

"Tea! He won't wake up! What do I do?" Joey shouted into his cell phone.

There was a pause from Tea. "What?!"

"Its all my fault!" Joey wailed.

"Oh my God Joey! You killed Grandpa?!"

"Grandpa isn't dead!" Joey replied, frustrated. He sat down between Bakura and Yugi's bed. "Yugi and Ryou won't wake up. I'm pretty sure this ain't a joke either."

"Did you check if they were breathing, you nimrod?" Tea asked, in moderate panic as well.

Joey stared at Yugi, then at Ryou. The rise and fall of their chests made it apparent they were not, in fact, dead.

"Yeah." This new discovery calmed him down a little bit.

"Look, I can't come over now, I've got an audition all day. Maybe you should call the doctor?"

Joey glanced over at the Millennium items. "Thanks, Tea. But I don't think any doctor can solve this one." He hung up on her and looked down into his lap. "Sorry, guys." he muttered.

Joey jumped up and sloppily threw his clothes on. He raced downstairs. Grandpa was nowhere to be seen. Joey caught sight of a note on the fridge door.

_I've gone on a secret expedition! Be good little boys and open the game shop for me!_ It had a little picture of Grandpa waving a AARP flag drawn on it.

Joey moaned and pulled at his huge mess of hair as he approached the game shop door. He unlocked it, but before he could turn around the "Closed" sign, the door hit him in the face and knocked him flat.

Kaiba morphed in through the door. "Yugi! I've come to absolutely destroy you!" he proclaimed to the empty shop.

"Watch it!" Joey yelled, rubbing his nose. Kaiba glared down at him.

"Wheeler, sprawled on the floor as usual I see," he commented, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Joey scrambled onto his feet. "Whaddaya mean by that?" he wanted to get into a fight with Kaiba, but his fighting spirit wasn't exactly burning right now.

"Yugi ain't here so go home," Joey responded grumpily.

"Don't act stupid with me, Wheeler." Kaiba warned. "Why would you be here if Yugi wasn't?"

Joey sat up on the game shop counter. "Because he asked me to watch the game shop while he was gone," Joey lied.

"You're lying," Kaiba informed him. "I would understand if he was cowering in fear from my presence, but he needs to come out so I can wipe the floor with him using the combination of a few new cards I picked up and an unbeatable strategy-WHEELER? Are you listening to me?"

Joey's face was scrunched up in thought.

Kaiba approached his face, taking firm hold of Joey's arm. "Where's Yugi?" he demanded.

Joey avoided his eyes. "He's asleep," he responded.

Kaiba narrowed his eyebrows. "At this hour? How idiotic. Go wake him up, mutt."

Joey pulled his arm away from Kaiba. "I can't!" he shouted at him.

Kaiba stepped back. "What do you mean you can't? Don't be-"

"I can't wake him up, okay? Be my guest, but he won't wake up. Ryou neither." Joey jumped off the counter. "Now be useful or go home, alright?"

Kaiba stood in the middle of the game shop. After a moment he slammed his briefcase on the counter. "Take me to him, I'll show you how to properly wake up a person."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "If you're thinking about stabbing or kicking, I ain't gonna let you."

Kaiba folded his arm across his chest. "Don't be a fool, Wheeler," he stated. Joey quickly locked the door of the game shop back up.

Kaiba frowned deeply. "I'll kill you if you've killed him before I got the chance, Wheeler."


	4. Ch4: Day Two: Yami and Bakura

"Where can a guy steal some food in this town!" Bakura raved, stalking the streets like a cross-dressing hobo.

Yami followed beside him. "We should find out where we are," he mentioned.

"You should find out where some freaking crumpets are!" Bakura yelled at him. A passing mother hugged her child closer to her as they hurried away.

Yami stopped. "Crumpets? One would think a cheeseburger would suffice…."

Bakura turned on him with a deep frown. "I don't know what kind of nasty things Yugi feeds you, but if I don't eat some kind of pastry soon I will destroy that small child!" He pointed at the most random kid he could find. The little boy burst into tears.

"Look, you're scaring innocent people. I have an idea," Yami stopped Bakura in the middle of the sidewalk. "I will find out where we are, and you will get some food."

The two split up. Yami ventured into what looked like a back alley crack dealing convenience store. The person at the register had a lazy eye and a nasty sneer. Yami waved at him and he stared. His one eye fixed on Yami's face, and the other roamed about the far reaches of the Pharaoh's hair.

"Where is this place?" Yami asked. The man snarled. "I don't speak no Mexican," he informed Yami.

Yami looked about, he pointed to a roadmap for sale. "You want a map? Its five bucks." the man said.

Yami shook his head. He squinted at the map. Good! He could read it. He picked it up and pointed to the word "where" in giant letters on the front.

"Make up your mind, you want the map or not?" the man seemed to grow impatient. Yami shook his head again. He pointed at the word "where" and pointed to the ground.

"You can throw it on the ground all you want if you pay for it first," the man said, spitting underneath the counter. Yami held it up to the man's hideous face and pointed to "where."

"Where?" the man finally turned on a light bulb in the empty cavity of his head. Yami nodded furiously, pointing to the floor, and out the door.

"You wanna know where we're at? What kinda dumb fool don't even know where he's at? Of course we're in Okinawa." the man spit again and turned back to the adult magazine he had previously been reading.

Yami walked out of the store feeling a lot dirtier than when he went in. A man in a pink skirt ran by him in a blur. "I got us some food!" Bakura yelled. Yami spotted a large red-faced man huffing down the sidewalk and bolted after Bakura. "You weren't supposed to steal it! I hope you didn't kill anyone!"

After their second running escapade of the day, Bakura shoved a Danish at Yami. "Eat that and bow to my skills."

"No." replied Yami, stuffing it in his mouth.

"Where is this bloody rotten place?" Bakura asked.

"Okinawa," Yami responded, licking cream off his lips.

"Where the hell is that?" Bakura demanded.

"No idea," Yami responded.

The two failures stalked around the streets. All of Bakura's ideas included killing and stealing and other sorts of misdemeanors. Yami's ideas included asking people that he couldn't actually talk to.

"We'll be arrested soon if you keep this up," Yami warned Bakura as the thief munched on a stolen apple.

"Maybe you will. I don't get arrested. Ever." Bakura commented.

Yami stopped him suddenly. "Look, Bakura. That look familiar to you?" He pointed at the glassy front doors of a tall skyscraper.

Bakura squinted at the logo plastered shamelessly all over the building. "I hope the CEO is in!" he grinned madly and tossed his apple core at an unsuspecting pigeon.

Bakura couldn't imagine why two cross-dressing men speaking a strange foreign language with hairstyles beyond nature and reason we're stopped by security as they entered the local branch of Kaiba Corp.

"Tell me where Kaiba's stupid ass is so I can beat it to a pulp!" Bakura demanded of the security guard. Though he couldn't understand the angry white haired man, he could very well understand his hostility.

"I'm sorry Sir, you'll have to leave the building," the man in the suit informed him.

"Excuse him, he doesn't know his manners," Yami explained. The man could at least sense that Yami was relatively non-threatening.

"Seto Kaiba!" Bakura yelled at the suited man. Another man with impossibly pointy hair was calling into his tiny bodyguard microphone for an interpreter.

"Seto Kaiba!" Bakura yelled again, Yami covered his mouth. "Would you stop? They're going to shoot us if you don't."

"With what guns? The ones they don't have?" Bakura sneered at him.

One of the suited men rushed over with a telephone. The other suited man handed it to Yami. Yami looked at it intently. "How do you use it?"

"Idiot!" Bakura snatched it from him and held it about a foot from his face. "SETO KAIBA!" he yelled into it.

"You're going to give yourself throat cancer! Now give me that." he took the phone from him and held it like he remembered Yugi using his own cell phone. "Hello?" he said into it.

Once of the suits clutched his earpiece to his ear. He was apparently listening in on the conversation.

"Can you understand me?" the man on the other line said.

"What's he saying?!" Bakura tried to get in on the conversation. Yami shrugged him off.

"Yes. Can you understand me?" Yami said slowly.

"Somewhat. What do you want?" the voice asked.

"We wish to speak with Seto Kaiba," Yami explained. "Please tell him its an emergency and this is Yugi."

"His arch rival, Yugi? What an honor! Can I get your autograph?"

Yami gave the phone a strange look. "Um…yes?" he responded. "This is kind of important…"

"Right. One minute."

"Are you talking to Kaiba?!" Bakura yelled from across the room before accidentally tipping over a vase of fake flowers. A robot came out to clean it up almost immediately. Bakura stared at it in disbelief. "Right! Now where is more stuff I can break?"

"Behave, Bakura," Yami warned him.

"What if I break this thing? Will another one come to clean him up?" Bakura picked up the cleaning bot and started to shake it.

"Sir, please don't," one of the suits tried to get him to stop.

"Back off, foolish mortal! This mechanical demon is now my prey!" Bakura hid in a corner to dismantle the robot in a violent fashion while Yami tapped his foot to the jingle of the hold music.


	5. Ch5: Day Two: Kaiba and Joey

Kaiba tapped his foot impatiently as he sat at Yugi's desk chair. "I don't believe your delusions, Wheeler."

"I'm telling' ya like it is!" Joey said, prodding Yugi's cheek.

"Why don't you just let me pour boiling water on his face?" Kaiba questioned.

Joey stared with his mouth open. He jumped up and grabbed Kaiba's collar. "Why dontcha let me pour boiling water on YOUR face and we'll see how it goes!"

"I can afford the doctors to fix that. If you don't let go of me, no doctor can help you with what I'll do to your entire body," Kaiba threatened.

Joey let go of Kaiba with a shove. He stood over the Millennium items and stared. "I know its got something to do with these. Should we move em? Help me move em' Kaiba," Joey said, pointing.

Kaiba got up out of his seat and stalked over, barely missing stepping on Ryou's head. "What's to move, you moron? Just pick the thing up," he grabbed the Millennium Puzzle and picked it up off the Millennium Ring.

"See?" he said, shaking it at Joey. "This has nothing to do with-"

"Doesn't that hurt?" Joey said, pointing to the puzzle.

Kaiba looked down at his hand. Pain shot up his arm and he dropped the puzzle back onto the ring. His mouth gaped as he stared at his scorched hand.

Joey practically pulled out his hair. "Get it under water!" he yelled, dragging Kaiba into the bathroom. Kaiba's mouth moved like a fish out of water. Joey turned the sink on full blast and shoved Kaiba's hand under it.

"AHHHHHH! WHEELER! WHAT THE HELL?" Kaiba yelled, trying to yank his hand away.

"Do you not get the part where your skin is melting off?" Joey yelled back at him, holding his hand under the faucet despite Kaiba's struggling.

"Turn the faucet down! Down!" Kaiba yelled at him. Joey adjusted the water to a normal flow.

"I told ya. I told ya and you didn't listen to me. This is your own fault-"

"Shut up, Wheeler. You're a-" Kaiba's pocket began to vibrate. "What's going on? I specifically told them I wasn't to be disturbed today." The phone continued to vibrate madly.

"Ain't you gonna answer it?" Joey asked.

Kaiba narrowed his eyebrows at Joey.

"Could be important," Joey prodded him.

Kaiba glared as the phone stopped ringing.

"What if you won the lottery? And you didn't answer it," Joey shook his head in disbelief.

"You're impossibly stupid. Why would I ever need the lottery," Kaiba pointed out to him. His pocket started vibrating again. Kaiba looked down at his hand. "Get the phone, Wheeler," he commanded.

Joey frowned. "No, I ain't your slave. Get your own phone," Joey retorted.

Kaiba tugged at his hand. "I'd LOVE to," he said sarcastically. The phone was in the opposite pocket of his free hand.

Hesitantly, Joey dug the buzzing cell phone from Kaiba's pocket. "How do I answer it?" Joey asked.

"GIVE it to me you incompetent fool," Kaiba was impatient. Joey flipped open the phone and handed it to him.

"I SAID I was not to be disturbed," he began his conversation in an annoyed tone.

"Sir," came the response from the other line. "There's a Yugi here in the Okinawa office that wishes to speak to you."

Kaiba made a face. "What are you trying to pull? I know very well where Yugi is and it isn't in Okinawa."

"Yugi? What's he sayin'?" Joey tried to interrupt.

"Sir, he says its an emergency. He's come into the office with a very angry white haired man," the other line informed him.

"What's he sayin'?!" Joey repeated

"Fine, put this wackjob on the line, I'll hear what he has to say," Kaiba told the man.

"Sir, I'll set up an interpreter-"

"What for? I can very well understand him myself," Kaiba was growing more annoyed.

"Sir, yes, but he is apparently speaking a foreign language-"

"Are you calling me incompetent? I said put him on the line before I fire you!"

"Y-yes sir," Kaiba got the crappy hold music.

Joey poked Kaiba in the hand.

"GAW! WHEELER!" Kaiba simply growled when he realized he couldn't really do anything without dropping the phone.

"WHAT is going ON?" Joey demanded, turning the water off.

"Some moron showed up in the Okinawa office claiming to be Yugi and speaking a foreign language."

"What kind of language?"

"A FOREIGN one, I just said that, dolt."

"I meant WHICH language, jerk."

"How should I know?" he looked down at his hand. Joey was bandaging it up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kaiba demanded.

"What does it look like? You wanna have a burnt nasty festerin' hand forever?"

"Its hardly FESTERING." Kaiba frowned. "That hurts."

"No joke! And here I thought you were supposed to be some sorta genius," Joey retorted.

"Kaiba!" came a voice over the phone.

"Yes? What's your business?" Kaiba demanded.

"You can understand me, correct?" Yami asked.

"Of course. Now tell me what you want before I have you arrested."

"Its me, Yami. Bakura and I need your help. No one can understand us and-"

"Do I know you? And what about Ryou? He is in the room upstairs." Kaiba was royally confused by now.

"Ryou still is? Is Yugi there? Is Yugi alright?" Yami asked frantically. Bakura had finished dismantling the robot and was now grumpily glaring out the window pretending not to be eavesdropping.

"What is it to you? Who are you?"

"I said, Yami. I'm the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, and Bakura is-"

"I hardly believe your voodoo sorcery mumbo jumbo. You sound like Wheeler and his fantasies-"

"Joey? Is he there? Let me talk to him!" Yami asked.

Kaiba held the phone out to Joey. "This Yami person wants to talk to you."

"YAMI?!" Joey shouted, snatching up the phone. "Yami? That you? What, where, what are you doing where and why? Are you? And how?" Joey was near hyperventilation.

"Joey! Calm down! Is Yugi okay?"

"What? It sounds like your voice but I can't understand a word you're sayin'," Joey said, disappointed.

Kaiba snatched the phone back. "Obviously only people with brains can be a part of this conversation," he snapped.

"Look, apparently Wheeler knew you, but I still don't believe you. Yugi and Ryou are upstairs, they haven't woken up since this morning. Wheeler has been in an idiotic stupor ever since. He seems to think it has something to do with your puzzle. Which, by the way burned my hand when I tried to pick it up," Kaiba informed him.

Yami paused on the line. So, Yugi was okay, but he was asleep and wouldn't awaken. "Bakura and I are the spirit of those items. Somehow we've become detached from them, and given these temporary bodies. We can only speak our native tongue, it was difficult enough getting on the phone with you-"

"You're trying to tell me that you are speaking ancient Egyptian? That's ridiculous," Kaiba wouldn't believe something so stupid.

"That's what I couldn't understand him!" Joey exclaimed. "Look, Kaiba. You gotta help Bakura an Yami to get back here, and probably it will wake Yugi and Ryou up!"

Kaiba perked up a little at the prospect of Yugi waking up. "Look, whoever you are. I'll arrange for your safe travel back to Domino City, but I'm only doing this so that Yugi can wake up and I can crush him in a duel."

"Thank you, Kaiba." Yami said. He pretended not to see Bakura paying close attention to their conversation even though he acted like he didn't give a flying flip.

Kaiba spent the next few moments on the phone with some representative from his company before hanging up. He looked at Joey's hopeful face and down at his hand. He had been done bandaging it for quite some time now.

"Are you quite finished holding my hand, Wheeler? Or did you want to do something else with it?" Kaiba asked.

Joey let go like it was burning again and quickly scampered back into Yugi's bedroom.


	6. Ch6: Day Two: Yami and Bakura

Yami and Bakura were courteously dropped off at a rather large hotel. They stared at the floors rising up to the sky.

"What in the blazes are we doing here?" Bakura demanded.

"We're supposed to stay here until we can catch a plane back to Domino City tomorrow," Yami explained.

"Tomorrow? That doesn't give me much time to rob people and destroy things," Bakura said, sounding disappointed.

"You're not going anywhere, you lunatic," Yami informed him. They were escorted to the elevator. The attendant gave them their room keys and opened the elevator for them. They both just stared at it.

"They want to close us into this box? Why?" Yami asked, confused.

Bakura glared around the lobby. "Look at all these fools. They are paying money to be put into these boxes!" he assumed. The attendant motioned for them to enter. Cautiously, the two stepped inside. There was another attendant waiting. He closed the door.

"What's he doing here? I thought this was our box? Why do we have to share it with him?" Bakura asked, angrily. "Get your own box!!!" he yelled at the attendant.

Yami put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop. You're scaring him." The attendant rushed out of the elevator as soon as they hit the correct floor.

Yami and Bakura walked out. The two found their room, and Yami was thankful to be able to read the instructions on the door to get in.

"This is rather surprising," Yami commented on the huge suite.

"Thank God. I thought we were going to have to sleep in that bloody box," Bakura sat down on one of the beds.

Yami explored the room. He was excited to see that there was free soap and shampoo. His body was still covered in sand. "I'm taking a shower." he announced.

"Great! I'm going to consume everything inside this cold box," Bakura had his head inside the mini fridge.

Yami walked out of the bathroom a half hour later, hair limp and body clean. Bakura was perched on the edge of the bed, staring intently at the TV.

"What was that moron thinking? Obviously Sara couldn't be bothered by his lies. She can see right though you, John!" he rambled.

Yami lifted an eyebrow. "Fool!" Bakura yelled, pointing. "Of course Mary shot him! How could you not see? He was too stupid to throw the knife away."

Yami ignored Bakura and his soap operas. He noticed there were clothes laid out on the small table. Kaiba must have had them placed there. There was a note. "No one traveling under Kaiba Corp is allowed to look like a slobby underclass loser," it read. Yami put the clothes on.

Bakura threw the remote onto the bed and stalked off to the bathroom. "He should have ended up with Tom." he muttered.

Yami flipped through the channels. Ah! The card game channel! It was currently showing some crappy Duke Devlin ad. Suddenly Yami felt a tug at his heart. He missed Yugi's voice, he missed the weight of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. Yami flopped down onto the bed. In a day he could be back with Yugi. Hopefully, Yugi was alright.


	7. Ch7: Day Two: Kaiba and Joey

Joey and Kaiba sat across from each other awkwardly at the kitchen table. Joey had made some tea to drink, which, Kaiba admitted only to himself, was pretty good. They didn't talk about much. Joey had nothing to say to Kaiba, and Kaiba really had nothing to say to Joey.

"So," Joey tried to start a conversation. "How about that Mokuba?"

Kaiba glared at him. "What about Mokuba?" he asked.

"Uhh…." Joey tried to think of something to say. "Is he takin' all his vitamins?"

Kaiba gave him a look. "What are you, his nutritionist? Shut up." Kaiba was touchy when it came to questioning how he raised Mokuba.

"If he doesn't like em' they got those colorful Flintstone kinds-"

"He takes his vitamins just fine! And gets enough fiber too! In case you were wondering!" Kaiba snapped at him.

"Geeze, just trying to have a conversation," Joey replied, swirling his teacup around.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Then mention a subject worth conversing about," he said.

Joey rolled his eyes. "The only thing you care about is stuff like the stock market and how many quarters are in a hundred dollars."

Kaiba frowned. "There are 400. Is this the end of our conversation, now?"

Joey dug something out of his pocket. "Wanna duel?"

Kaiba looked at Joey's deck he had just pulled out. "Duel where? I intend to stay here until Yugi awakens so the first thing he does is be destroyed by me."

Joey looked at him like he was an idiot. "Why do we have to go somewhere?"

"Did you even bring your duel disk?" Kaiba asked. Obviously, he had brought his in his briefcase.

Joey shook his head. He began to shuffle his deck. "What's the matter with you? Ain't you ever played cards on a normal table before?"

"Why would I do something so low class?"

"Cause its fun?" Joey stared at him. "Do you actually know what fun is, Kaiba?"

"Of course I do, nimrod! However, I run a successful business, raise Mokuba, and still go to school. Do you think I can have time for fun?"

Joey put his head on the table. "You're hopeless," he commented.

Throughout the night, Kaiba drank a lot of cups of tea. Joey ventured back into Yugi's room. Kaiba came around the corner and stopped when he heard Joey talking.

"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to tease ya like that. I dunno what happened, but I hope you're okay. Probably pretty hungry, probably gotta pee after sleepin' all day. Yami and Bakura should get here tomorrow." Joey gave a sigh. "Joey, you've gone and screwed things up again" he lay his head on the edge of Yugi's bed.

Kaiba stood outside the door, sipping his tea, until Joey fell asleep. He stepped inside and surveyed the room before shrugging off his jacket and draping it over Joey's shoulders. Kaiba stole Joey's pillow and sleeping bag and took them downstairs. He convinced himself that it was alright to sleep on a couch, something he would normally NEVER do, as long as the first thing Yugi did was duel him.


	8. Ch8: Day Three: Yami and Bakura

"What's the meaning of this obscenely long car?" Yami asked, staring at the limo that had come to pick them up. He imagined Kaiba saying something like "Everyone that rides under the Kaiba Corp. name has to look AWESOME and RICH."

"Where do you enter? How many people are riding in this car with us?" Bakura complained. It was too early in the morning for him. Things made even less sense than usual.

Someone opened the door for them to indicate where they should get in. Yami thanked the man, and Bakura glared at him all the way into the car.

"Look how far away from you I can sit!" Bakura said, scooting all the way across the limo.

"What's your point?" Yami asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just think, if someone smelled like rotten cabbage, you could ride in this car and sit very VERY far away from them. How convenient. This is what rich people spend their time doing."

"They spend their time smelling very badly?"

"NO!" Bakura frowned. He opened the bottle of wine and proceeded to pour it down his throat.

Once at the airport, they wandered around, not sure where to go. "Thank Ra we can still read Japanese," Yami commented as he tried to figure out where their gate was located. He glanced over at Bakura, who's suit jacket had a strange bulge in it.

"What do you think you're doing?" Yami asked as Bakura pulled out a magazine titled _Luxurious Okinawa_.

"I'm taking some souvenirs. Look, I got Ryou a tee-shirt!" He held up a tee-shirt that said _I went to Okinawa and all I got was this lousy shirt _on it. Bakura looked at it and grinned. "I would have stolen him a sweater but I didn't see any."

They approached the long line for the metal detector. Yami turned to Bakura and put on a stern face. "They're going to find everything you stole when we walk through that grey arch thing," he warned him.

"I'll handle it like I always do." Bakura shrugged him off.

"What? Rob them, too?"

"No, fool. I'll summon….." Bakura stopped talking. "Never mind." He threw a pile of stuff including a bottle of Pepsi and an Okinawa collectable spoon in the trash as they walked by.

"Right. You can't solve all your problems with violence," Yami nodded at Bakura.

Bakura stuck his nose in the air. "Of course I can. I just don't have any cards on me right now."

Regardless of his efforts, Bakura beeped as they walked through the metal detector. A man approached him with a scanning wand. Bakura began to back away. "You dare attack me with your stick?" The person gave him a strange look and started waving the wand around him. Bakura batted it away. "Back, demon stick!" he said. The person became frightened and Yami quickly rushed Bakura out of the security area.

An hour later, they finally boarded the plane. Yami had flown on a plane before, but Bakura didn't look like he understood what it was.

"They expect this metal dragon to fly in the sky? I'm getting off so I can watch as everyone else burns in the crash. Bloody idiots." he attempted to get past the rest of the people trying to board.

Yami yanked him back and pushed him into the seat. "Sit down, you nutcase."

Once the flight took off, the beverage woman came around. "Would you like anything?" she asked them. Yami shook his head.

"Give me tea," Bakura demanded. It was clear the lady didn't understand him. "TEA!" he yelled at her. She pointed at a water bottle. "NO! English breakfast tea, you moron!" she handed him a Sprite and walked off.

Yami was staring at him. "What?" Bakura asked, grumpily.

"You've become quite strange," he commented.

Bakura scowled. "What do you expect? While in Ryou's body, I've become accustomed to certain tastes. Isn't it the same for you?"

Yami thought on it. "I suppose I tend to like the things that Yugi likes."

"Which would explain why you're such a wuss," Bakura muttered. "Isn't it frustrating to live inside such a weak body?"

Yami glared at him. "Yugi is not weak. He's very brave."

Bakura turned his face away and scowled. "Do you think Ryou is weak?" Yami asked.

"Its none of your business what I think about Ryou," Bakura avoided the question. He began to shake the Sprite can violently.

"You wouldn't come back with me if you weren't worried about him," Yami pointed out.

Bakura swapped the can in his hand for one on the flight attendants cart as she rolled past. "I only care about getting the Millennium Ring back," he commented, turning to look out the window.

Minutes later he heard the satisfactory explosion of carbonation two aisles down and grinned.


	9. Ch9: Day Three: Kaiba and Joey

Joey woke early in the morning. He looked around the room groggily. Yugi and Ryou were still asleep. Joey had a mind to crawl into his sleeping bag when he realized it wasn't there. Joey frowned and made his way downstairs. "The fridge is callin' to my stomach," he muttered to himself.

Once in the kitchen, Joey started to make himself something to eat. In the middle of pouring a Mickey Mouse pancake, he heard a buzzing noise behind him. Turning around, he noticed Kaiba's cell phone on the tabletop. It was lying there next to his wallet, buzzing madly.

Joey looked around, curious as to where Kaiba could have gone without his personal items, and picked up the phone. "Uhhh…hello? Kaiba's phone."

"Who's this? Where is Seto?" came a familiar voice over the line.

"Mokuba?" Joey asked. "I dunno where your bro went, he's probably still in the house somewhere."

Mokuba paused. "Is this Joey? Is he at your house?"

Joey laughed. "Not a chance, Mokuba. We're both at Yugi's house. You're brother is a little obsessive over some duel he wants to have with Yugi-"

"What do you think you're doing, Wheeler?" Kaiba's voice came from the doorway.

Joey looked up and dropped his spatula. Kaiba walked into the kitchen dripping wet and wearing a towel.

"Give me that. Who said you could answer my phone, mutt." Kaiba snatched the phone from Joey, who didn't protest in the least bit.

"Mokuba! What is it?" Kaiba barked into the phone.

"Big brother! You didn't come home last night! I was worried." Mokuba said.

Kaiba frowned. "There was no reason for you to worry. I slept over at Yugi's house."

"Why did you sleep with Joey at Yugi's house?" Mokuba prodded further.

Kaiba gritted his teeth. Thank God Joey couldn't hear Mokuba's choice of words. "Yugi isn't feeling so well. Wheeler is only here to get in the way while I wait for Yugi to get better so I can crush him," Kaiba explained. "Now go to school before you're late," Kaiba instructed. "And make sure you take your vitamins," he added before hanging up.

Kaiba glared at Joey. He was standing awkwardly in front of the stove, holding a spatula. His mouth was gaping slightly. "What are you staring at, Wheeler?" Kaiba smirked.

Joey mad an angry face at him. He pointed with his spatula to Kaiba's stomach. "Where'd you get those?" he asked.

Kaiba looked down at himself. "The CEO of a successful company is expected to take care of his body. I'm a busy man, I can't afford to be a skinny weakling like you."

"Take that back! I'm plenty strong!" Joey felt the urge to grab Kaiba's collar, until he realized that he wasn't wearing one.

"Isn't something burning?" Kaiba said, lifting an eyebrow.

Joey flailed and turned back to the stove, flipping his pancake.

"You're incompetent," Kaiba commented, stalking back to the bathroom.

Joey frowned at his dark pancake. "Stupid Kaiba and his stupid…." he lifted up his shirt and looked at his own stomach. Completely flat. "See if I make you a pancake," Joey growled.


	10. Ch10: Day Three

Yami tapped his finger on the handle of the car door as they rode from the airport to the game shop.

"Stop being annoying," Bakura told him, looking out the window. Yami couldn't help feeling anxious. Soon he would be sure that Yugi was alright.

Yami kept his hand on the door handle, and leapt from the limo before it even came to a full stop. He rushed the game shop door and tried to open it. Locked. Yami banged on the door incessantly. Bakura leisurely exited the car when the door was opened for him. He strolled up to the game shop door and stood beside Yami.

"Calm down," he said to Yami grumpily.

Joey appeared inside the game shop a moment later. Upon seeing Yami at the door he rushed to open it.

"Yami? Its really you! I don't get it," he said.

"Where is Yugi? Is he alright?" Yami asked, grasping Joey's arms.

Joey gave him a confused look. "I can't understand what you're sayin'." he replied.

"Yugi. Yu-gi," Yami repeated. Joey could at least understand that much.

"Follow me. He's still up in his room with Ryou, fast asleep," Joey led them up the stairs where Yugi, Ryou, and Kaiba were all waiting.

Yami knelt immediately at Yugi's side. "Yugi? Can you hear me?" he put a hand on Yugi's face. Yugi didn't move.

Bakura came into the room a moment later and stood over Ryou. "What are you doing, lying there? This is because you didn't do as you were told," he nudged Ryou with his foot. "Now wake up."

Ryou didn't move either. Bakura frowned at him. "I said wake up!" he lifted his foot in the air.

Joey grabbed Bakura and held him back. "Whaddaya think you're doin'?" he asked, angrily.

"Stay out of this, foolish mortal. It's my business what I do to my host," Bakura replied, shrugging him off. He squatted down next to Ryou.

Kaiba approached Joey from behind. "Care to explain what's going on, Wheeler?" he asked. It was obvious that Kaiba didn't understand what was happening.

"Didn't we explain it all to you before? Its your own fault you don't get it," Joey replied.

Kaiba grabbed his shirt collar. "I still don't believe your stories. I accept that for some reason there are two Yugi's, but as long as one of them duels me I could care less about what happens."

Joey ignored him and knelt next to Yami. "I'm sorry, Yami. This is all my fault. If I didn't make them take off the Millennium Puzzle and Ring, this wouldn't have happened," Joey apologized.

Yami smiled at him. "It's not your fault, Joey. I'm just glad that Yugi is safe. All we can do now is find out how to fix this."

Joey stared at him blankly. Bakura rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to talk to him, moron. He can't understand you."

"He says its not your fault, Wheeler," Kaiba spoke up. "He said he wants to find out how to fix this." He approached Yami. "Listen, whoever you are. If you are also Yugi, I want you to duel me. I'm ready to-"

"Save it, Kaiba. This is more important than a silly duel. I'll do nothing until I can find out how to wake Yugi up." Yami replied, sternly.

Kaiba grunted and exited the room. Joey motioned towards the Millennium items. "Try puttin' those on. Be careful though, Kaiba burned his hand on the puzzle when he tried to separate em."

Yami reached over and picked up the Millennium Puzzle. He placed it around his neck, as Joey held his breath. Nothing happened. Yami made a shrug and a thumbs up at Joey.

Bakura snatched the Millennium Ring off of Yugi's night stand. "Never mind. As long as I have this, why does it matter?" he placed the ring around his neck. "I'm going to go have fun with my newly acquired body," he announced.

"Wait! What about Ryou?" Yami protested.

Bakura turned away. "What about him?" he asked. "Come on, Pharaoh, don't tell me that you wouldn't like to keep this new body? You don't need Yugi now. You should just take your puzzle and do as you wish."

"That's not true! I need Yugi very much! Though I may have my own body now, he is my partner and guide in this world," Yami said.

Joey grew frustrated, he stood up and blocked the exit. "Hey! I can't understand what you're sayin' but you look like you're leavin'! Whaddaya think you're doin' to Ryou? How could you just leave him like this?"

"Fools. If you want to go back to being trapped inside Yugi's body, Pharaoh, be my guest." he glared at Joey. "Out of my way before I send your soul to the shadow realm."

Joey stood firm, seeing as how he didn't understand Bakura's threat, anyway.

"He's going to kill you if you don't stand down, Wheeler," Kaiba informed him. He was leaning against the wall outside the door.

"No way!" Joey exclaimed.

Bakura threw his head back and laughed. He stopped when nothing happened. "What? What in Zorc's name is going on?" he picked up the ring and shook it.

Yami looked down at his puzzle. It felt like little more than dead weight around his neck.

"The items seem to be powerless," he concluded.

Bakura growled. He knelt on the floor and shook Ryou. "Wake up! Wake up you little brat. What have you done to my ring?"

Yami smirked at Bakura. "It seems that you do need Ryou after all," he stated. Bakura glared.

Joey waved his hands. "Look, Kaiba and I will wait downstairs while you guys figure this out. Ain't that right Kaiba?" he started to push Kaiba down the hallway.

"Who said you could speak for me, Wheeler? Get your hands off," Kaiba demanded.

"This is important," Joey sat Kaiba down on the couch and plopped down next to him. "We just gotta wait and trust Yami and Bakura know what they're doin'."

"I've waited quite long enough," Kaiba complained.

Joey poked him in the shoulder. "Then you can wait a little longer, Mister antsy pants," he said.

"Don't call me stupid names, Wheeler," Kaiba warned.

"Then don't have a stupid face!" Joey retorted. "My friends might be in danger and all you can think about is playin' a card game!"

Kaiba turned his face away. "Excuse my insensitivity," he muttered.

"Wha…?" Joey asked, lowering his fist slightly.

"Sorry," Kaiba said, barely audible.

"What?" Joey asked, leaning over.

"Don't make me repeat myself, idiot!" Kaiba yelled at him, turning back in Joey's direction. Their faces became rather close rather suddenly.

Joey moved to the other side of the couch in a speedy fashion, while Kaiba simply frowned deeply and continued to pout about his duel.


	11. Ch11: Day Three

Hours passed, and eventually the morning zipped into afternoon, and drooped into evening. After not-so-subtle hints by Kaiba that Joey not only acted like a dog, but smelled like one too, Joey reluctantly spent an hour in the Moto's shower. Kaiba relished the silence of the living room, running his patience to the utmost reaches of the universe.

Joey returned and reclaimed his place on the couch, putting his bare feet up on the coffee table and flipping on the TV. Kaiba proceeded to endure several hours of bad TV movies and Nick-at-Nite.

"_You can survive, Seto. You just have to pretend this is a painfully boring board meeting with all the morons who think that they usefully contribute to your company,"_ he told himself. At least, he observed, Joey no longer smelled like a mutt, but rather smelled like lemons and Herbal Essence. He briefly remembered the commercials of the women rubbing the shampoo through their hair and shouting "Yes! YES! OH YES!" rather orgasmically, and accidentally imagined Joey doing the same.

"Ughhhhh…." Kaiba groaned at the painful mental image. He briefly executed an angst one-eyed face grab.

Joey raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter with you?" he asked. "Got a headache?"

Kaiba glared at him. "Yes. Your horrible TV reruns of I love Lucy are making my stomach upset as well," he commented.

Joey turned the channel to an old episode of Wheel of Fortune. He stared intently at the television.

"Waffle Iron!" Joey shouted in a minute.

"How do you figure?" Kaiba asked. There were only three letters exposed on the board.

"Cause I'm awesome, that's how," Joey replied.

Kaiba glared at the screen. Vana White revealed the word "Waffle Iron" ten minutes later.

"You got lucky," Kaiba muttered.

A few minutes passed. Kaiba noticed Joey perched on the edge of his seat. He concentrated intently on the game show. _"There's no way he will-"_

"Pay and Save the World!" Joey yelled, after four letters were revealed on the board.

Kaiba frowned deeply. "You can't just shout things randomly and expect to be right," he told Joey.

"I don't gotta be random. I AM right," Joey replied. And he was.

Kaiba crossed his arms. Joey looked over at him. "Don't tell me you're mad that I'm better at Wheel of Fortune than you," Joey prodded him in the arm, grin spread across his face.

Kaiba changed the channel. Old Yeller was on the TV. "Look, now you can watch one of your own kind contract rabies and be shot by the same small boy he valiantly saved earlier in the movie," he said, grumpily.

Joey pulled Kaiba's face closer via collar grab. "Watch it, wise guy, or old Yeller won't be the only one dead at the end of this movie," he threatened.

An hour later, after Joey had lamented Old Yeller's death, he fell asleep. Much to Kaiba's dismay, he fell asleep on the CEO's shoulder. Kaiba sat stifly on the couch. He debated whether to wake the mutt, because how dare he think he was allowed to sleep on Seto Kaiba's shoulder, or to leave him sleep and enjoy the absence of Joey's incessant jabbering and the peace of the living room.

Upstairs, Yami and Bakura had sat idle for quite some time. Ryou and Yugi had not yet awoken.

"You sunk my battleship," Bakura announced angrily as he pulled the little pegged ship off his board.

They had pulled Yugi's battleship game out from under the bed and started playing it over Ryou's sleeping body.

"How are you so bloody good at this stupid game? If I was REALLY blowing up ships, then it would go much more badly for you," Bakura insisted.

Yami shrugged. He had all but one ship left, and Bakura only had one ship left. "I am the King of Games," he reminded Bakura. "B4."

"Damn," Bakura replied, placing a little red peg on his last ship. "You're a bloody rotten cheater."

"Am not," Yami replied. "As Yugi would suggest, I am probably guided by the heart of the grid. Or something."

After eight more rounds of battleship, Bakura gave up trying to win and threw the game all over the room. "Have fun vacuuming that up!" he yelled at Yami. He sat down next to Ryou in a huff.

"Look, kid," he said. "I admit having my own body is great stuff. Its hard to get you to be naughty or unruly in the least bit." After making sure that Yami wasn't watching, he slipped his hand into Ryou's. "I'll come back in there, just promise to break a window and pinch cafeteria food once in a while."

Yami reached over ad brushed Yugi's wild bangs off his face. "C'mon Yugi, time to wake up. I'm ready to come back," he took Yugi's hand and gave it a squeeze. Yami jumped when he felt the small boy's hand squeeze back. "Yugi? Yugi?! Can you hear me?"

"…Yami?" Yugi asked faintly.

Yami leaned over his partner. "Yugi, I'm right here, see?" he took off the Millennium Puzzle and placed it in Yugi's hand. "I'm right here."

Bakura noticed Ryou's eyelids twitching and felt a squeeze to his own hand. "Don't be a lazy fool and get on up," Bakura told him.

Ryou scrunched his eyelids up. "Why did you go away for so long?" he asked, sounding a bit hurt.

Bakura made sure once again that Yami wasn't watching and patted Ryou's head in an awkward but affectionate manner. "Silly boy. I didn't go anywhere." He placed the Millennium Ring around Ryou's neck.

Yugi's eyes flitted open and Yami consumed his line of vision. "I was lost for a little while," Yugi said. "You left me."

Yami smiled at him. "I promise I will never leave you again."

Yugi returned his smile faintly. He reached up towards Yami's face, with the anticipation of feeling Yami's skin under his fingertips.

Yugi's fingers touched nothing but air, and Yami was gone. Yugi sat up abruptly. He gripped the Millennium puzzle tightly and could feel Yami's spirit resonating through it.

Kaiba and Joey burst into the door moments later. "Yugi! Shut up and duel me!" Kaiba yelled.

"Watch it!" Ryou said, almost getting pummeled by the two boys. He pulled himself off the floor. "I'm hungry. I could eat a bloody elephant." he stalked out of the room to consume any bit of scraps Joey had left in the fridge.

Kaiba trampled Ryou's bedding to loom over Yugi. "I've come to duel you! This time Yugi, you don't stand a-"

"Why's your jacket wet?" Joey asked, pointing. Kaiba stopped talking and looked down at his shoulder. His face turned slightly pink with rage. "WHEELER!! DID YOU DROOL ON ME?! I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"Speaking of wet-" Yugi interrupted, making a face. "Could you guys maybe get out of the way before I pee my pants?"

Kaiba and Joey stepped aside as Yugi ran headlong towards the bathroom.


End file.
